Constantine: ‘I stand by what I said’ about Hutchison

King County Council Chairman Dow Constantine on Thursday responded to Susan Hutchison’s statement that he was lying about her conservative views in the county executive’s race.

On Wednesday Constantine held a news conference and accused Hutchison of ducking candidate forums to hide the fact that her views on things like abortion and other issues were too conservative for local voters. Hutchison later responded and said Constantine was untruthful and that she was a moderate, though she declined to discuss specifics.

Constantine released a statment Thursday and said “I want to reiterate that I stand by what I said. I’d like to remind Susan that we live in a democracy. All of us who seek elected office, no matter how well known we were in our previous careers, have an obligation to be open and accessible with the voters about where we stand on important issues…

“I’ll say it again: Susan Hutchison needs to come clean with the voters about her views. This is particularly important given that she has never held elective office and has no paper trail based on a record of public service.”